Saturday, February 23, 2019

WTF Series, #3 - Corporate Food

$15.4 Billion Write-down for Kraft Heinz  Stock plunges 28% to historic low; Market Capitalization goes from $58B to $42B 


    Do you know why?  Look at this sad list of their most famous brands in the U.S.:

Kraft – White macaroni & Cheese powder, fake cheese Singles, Mayo, EasyMac, salad dressings, sugary BBQ sauce
Heinz sugary Ketchup, Baked Beans
Capri Sun childrens’ fake juice
Classico sugary, salt-laden spaghetti sauce
Jell-O colorful and chemical childrens’ treat eaten by adults
Kool-Aid powder childrens’ drink
Lunchables – fatty bologna, white bread crackers, nuggets, cheese nachos fake school lunch
Maxwell House bland corporate coffee
Ore-Ida frozen Russet potatoes
Oscar-Mayer – mystery meat wieners, mystery meat cold cuts, carcinogenic bacon
Philadelphia Cream Cheese and sugary cream cheese treats
Planters Salty Peanuts
Weight Watchers processed ‘weight-loss’ Smart Ones
Velveeta fake cheese
Cheez Whiz fake cheese
A1 Steak sauce (steak!)
Boca tasteless non-meat Burgers
Cadbury mostly sugar low-cacao chocolates
Cool Whip fake whipped cream
Crystal Light fake weight-watchers drink
Claussen pickles
Grey Poupon mustard
Miracle Whip fake mayonnaise
Seven Seas processed salad dressings
Stove Top processed stuffing
Tang powdered fake orange juice
Taco Bell grocery items (fast food at home)
Toblerone mostly sugar low-cacao chocolate
Nabisco Premium tasteless white-bread crackers

Bloomberg called the situation for Kraft Heinz ‘an existential crisis.’  KH is the 3rd largest food company in North America and the 5th largest in the world.  

All that is missing is Spam©.  Nearly all of these food products are heavily processed, fake or low quality factory foods with little nutritional value or worse – excess chemicals, fat, sugar and salt.  They were mostly created in labs as ‘Frankenfoods’.  No wonder there is a corporate 'write-down.'  I grew up on some of this stuff in the 1960s and fed some to my kids later.  (Sorry kids - but now they are both vegetarians.)  It was inexpensive and ‘tasty’ food.  Many working-class people still do buy these brands, but it is damaging to our health.  I have turned to real food - organic, local, vegetarian or vegan - for years.  Many others have done so also, which is why the KH brand is failing.

The modern Kraft Heinz was put together by Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway and a hedge fund, and their cost-cutting measures ignored food quality.  Campbell’s Soup and General Mills are also flailing, according to Bloomberg– both issuing products that are set in a time zone in the edible past.   After all folks, who can’t make their own soup better than what Campbell’s makes?!  GM’s “Dannon” yogurt has more sugar than several candy bars, and more milk than you’d ever need.  Most of their cereals are various versions of sugar and food coloring.  All made in a lab.

Reviews on this subject, below:  "Salt, Sugar, Fat," "Foodopoly," "A Foodie's Guide to Capitalism," "Behind the Kitchen Door."  Use blog search box, upper left.

The Kulture Kommissar
February 23, 2019

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